RPS – Chapter 53 Mandarin Ducks?

Li Feng quickly called everyone back after clearly seeing something in the water—this was serious.

Ahead, two birds were swimming around awkwardly like ducks, but their feathers were much more colorful than ordinary ducks. Li Feng suspected they might be mandarin ducks. He was quite happy at first—didn’t expect to see mandarin ducks here. He was even thinking of catching some to raise at home. But when he saw what was chasing them in the water behind, he was truly startled.

In the water were not just one but several water snakes, moving swiftly. They were about to catch the two mandarin ducks swimming ahead. Li Feng worried the ducks might become “ghost mandarin ducks” (i.e., perish together). Just then, the two ducks flapped their wings and flew up. The water snakes suddenly shot out of the water, which amazed the onlookers—those snakes were incredibly fierce!

Li Feng’s understanding of things took a big hit. He had thought the two ducks were pitiful little mandarin ducks being chased by snakes. Who knew these two could actually fly? Why hadn’t they flown sooner and saved him from worrying so much? He had even planned to catch them for raising.

“Uncle Li Feng, what kind of bird is that? It’s so pretty,” Lu said, grabbing Li Feng’s hand and pointing at the two birds that had become little black dots in the distance.

“That’s a mandarin duck,” Li Feng replied. Mandarin ducks are famously known as birds that come in pairs—people envy the love between mandarin ducks rather than fairies. He didn’t say the rest because little kids wouldn’t understand, and would only ask more questions.

“Oh,” Lu nodded at the simple answer and didn’t press further, then was pulled aside by his mother.

“Everyone, as you can see, the water here is actually very dangerous. We can collect bird eggs, but we must be careful. Of course, I don’t recommend collecting eggs right now,” Li Feng told the group, pointing at the several water snakes that had now disappeared from sight.

The tribe members murmured among themselves. They had all seen the snakes and were quite afraid, especially since most present were women and children. Probably it was a natural fear of these soft, cold-blooded, long creatures. Now, they were very reluctant to enter the river to gather bird eggs. If they encountered snakes, it could be deadly. Just snakes on land scared them enough, let alone these in the water where it was hard to run or escape.

“Why do snakes live in the water?” someone asked. All the snakes they had seen were on land. They’d never noticed any in the water before. Maybe they’d overlooked them or mistook them for water plants.

Li Feng looked up at the sky and rubbed his chin. “There are snakes living on land and others living in water. So we need to be careful and it’s best not to go into the water for now. When winter comes, snakes hibernate. But do water snakes hibernate too? I don’t really know, but I guess they do—after all, they’re still snakes.”

“I didn’t expect there to be snakes in the water,” Luo said, jumping to Li Feng’s side and pointing at the shadows in the river, unsure if they were water plants or reed roots or stems. He realized there was danger here—they just hadn’t recognized it yet.

“Yes, there are many dangers in the water, so we must be very careful. We’re not familiar with this water,” Li Feng said, looking at the vast reeds in front of him. He didn’t know how many snakes, insects, or unknown creatures lurked inside. He certainly didn’t recognize them all, and if there were any poisonous ones, it would be too late to regret it then. So, he thought they should focus on harvesting reed fluff instead. After all, the reeds along the shore are much safer—snakes and bugs don’t like staying near the shore where animals often come to drink and disturb them.

Now, even without Li Feng’s reminder, the tribe members obediently collected reed fluff on the shore. Though eggs were tempting, life was more important. They knew how dangerous snakes were—most bitten people probably died. Their fear of snakes was no less than their fear of fierce tigers, leopards, or wolves.

“Li Feng, were those birds just now mandarin ducks?” Li followed closely behind Li Feng, still busy with his work. He had noticed Li Feng liked the birds a lot when he saw them earlier. Maybe next time, they could catch two to bring back?

“Those seemed like mandarin ducks,” Li Feng said hesitantly. His first thought when he saw them was mandarin ducks. One was brightly colored and beautiful, the other duller but with a duck-like shape. He’d seen mandarin ducks before—zoos have them. Li Feng’s uncertainty was because these ducks looked much prettier than the zoo ones, though still a bit ragged. Their feathers and colors were more vibrant and longer than those at the zoo.

“Hm, nice name,” Luo said, brushing close to Li Feng’s side and pointing at the reed beds ahead. “There must be a lot here.”

“Probably. Mandarin ducks live in groups. These two were likely separated by the chase,” Li Feng replied. He called them mandarin ducks regardless because they looked so much alike and always came in pairs. But speaking of the chase, these water snakes were really fierce—jumping to attack in the water! Those snakes were no small ones. He didn’t know how the wild ducks managed to escape. Why didn’t they fly away earlier?

“Do you think any of the eggs we collected are mandarin duck eggs?” Luo asked, joining the conversation.

Li Feng looked at the basket filled with eggs of all sizes and colors—white, green, and various shades. “Probably.” Should they try hatching some? But he couldn’t tell which ones were mandarin duck eggs. To be honest, among all these eggs, the only ones he could somewhat recognize were wild duck eggs. He knew the others were bird eggs but didn’t know exactly what kinds.

“That bird really is quite beautiful,” Luo said, rummaging through the basket, wondering which eggs might be mandarin duck eggs. He wished they could hatch them.

“That’s right, let me tell you, mandarin ducks are very faithful—they are utterly devoted to their love.” As soon as Li Feng heard Nuo’s sigh, he quickly jumped in to explain, taking the chance to show off his ‘advanced’ knowledge. Of course, their conversation was low-key and only for themselves; others were not meant to hear it. One mustn’t be too flashy—stay low-key, low-key, and even lower-key.

“It’s just a bird, isn’t it? Is it really that exaggerated?” Nuo didn’t believe Li Feng’s words. It was just a pair of wild birds, albeit pretty ones.

“Hmph, that’s because you don’t know. Mandarin ducks always come in pairs, male and female together. If one goes missing, the other will die from longing. They’re the most typical love birds.” Li Feng stroked the eggs in the basket and sighed, “Since ancient times, people have envied the mandarin duck’s love more than that of immortals.”

“Really? Are they really like that? That’s so noble.” Nuo was skeptical of Li Feng’s claim—he had never heard of such animals before.

“Of course it’s true. If you don’t believe me, try it next time: take one away, and the other will stop eating and starve itself.” Li Feng said this while changing the diaper of the baby who had just woken up, not forgetting to whistle gently to help the baby urinate.

Hearing Li Feng’s whistle, the baby quickly finished peeing. After waking, the baby was full of energy, especially now that nutrition was catching up. Every day the baby seemed stronger, sometimes grabbing Li Feng’s hair so hard it hurt terribly. Li Feng had to coax the little one carefully to let go. He wished he could just cut all his hair off to a shaved head so the baby couldn’t grab it anymore.

For some reason, the baby loved grabbing other people’s hair, especially long hair. Almost everyone around had long hair, since there were no hair-cutting tools. They kept it long for warmth in winter, especially to protect the ears.

“Ah, baby, be good, let go of daddy’s hair, okay? Daddy will find you something else to play with.” Although Li Feng had tied his hair into a ponytail, the baby still pulled out a few strands, tugging and trying to put them in his mouth. Li Feng was helpless—he had to gently pry the baby’s little hands away while soothing him softly, even turning his own head along with the baby’s tugging force. It was exhausting.

The worst part was the baby didn’t realize how uncomfortable it made Li Feng and kept holding on, drooling and smiling, trying to put his hair-grabbing hands into his mouth.

“Ah, son, be good, you can’t eat that.” Li Feng finally freed the hair from the baby’s hands and tucked it behind his ear, then comforted his son who was about to cry because his hair was gone.

“Haha, baby, you’re really giving your dad a hard time!” Nuo watched nearby, enjoying the scene. The baby was very cute when obedient but quite mischievous at other times. Boys were definitely more active than girls, and if he could walk and run, he’d probably cause even more trouble.

Li Feng gave Nuo a side glance and ignored him, looking for something to distract the baby. There really weren’t many toys here, so he gave the baby a small fruit he had saved earlier to hold and gnaw on. Watching the baby blink and clutch a mango-sized fruit with pudgy little hands, gnawing it with his four newly sprouted teeth (which had even scraped some skin), then puffing his cheeks and sucking the juice like a little bunny—Li Feng smiled. The baby was most serious and adorable when eating.

Usually, to distract or soothe the baby, they would give him something edible. As long as the baby had something to eat, his attention was instantly diverted. Sometimes tears were still on his cheeks, but his mouth was already busy eating, forgetting to cry.

“Baby, can you give uncle a little of that fruit?” Nuo teased, reaching out as if to take the fruit from the baby’s hand.

The baby, eyes watery and ready to cry after losing his hair just now, looked up with innocent puppy-like eyes at the large hand, then glanced at Nuo’s face. When Nuo’s fingers pinched the fruit in the baby’s hand, the baby froze but still tightly held on, staring at Nuo with big eyes.

Nuo grinned mischievously and slowly pulled the fruit little by little from the baby’s hand. The baby was shocked, pouting and turning to look at his dad, then at the other “dad” standing beside him, then back at Nuo who was putting the fruit near his mouth. The baby puckered his lips, closed his eyes, and tears started rolling down, crying while reaching out his tiny hands to snatch back his precious fruit.

But the baby’s small hands were too short to reach, yet he refused to give up the tasty treat being taken away. He cried loudly, still trying desperately to reclaim it, eyes fixed on the fruit wherever Nuo took it—so cute!

At first, Li Feng and the others were watching Nuo play with the baby, finding the reaction adorable. But they didn’t expect Nuo to tease the baby to tears and refuse to let go. Li Feng then gave Nuo a few free punches and snatched the fruit back.

Wiping the baby’s tears, Li Feng hurriedly put the fruit back in the baby’s hands. The baby clutched it tightly, shrinking into Li Feng’s arms, trembling, making Li Feng’s heart ache as he squeezed Nuo’s arm hard a few times.

Nuo jumped back, rubbing his arm, “Hey, you can’t just blame me! You guys wanted to watch the fun too!” Then he went to Bu for a rub on his arm. Really, Li Feng was heavy-handed; the arm must be swollen. They all wanted to see the baby’s reaction, so why was Nuo the one who ended up as the culprit? He was the most pitiful one here.

Nuo pretended to cry, resting on Bu’s shoulder, “Alright, who told you to tease the baby until he cried? Look, now the baby is even scared of you.” Bu patted Nuo on the shoulder and scolded him with a smile.

Nuo looked up at the baby in Li Feng’s arms, who was nestled there clutching the fruit, sniffling while still gnawing on it. The baby’s mouth was all messy from the juice but refused to let go, just like a little rabbit guarding its food.

“Haha, baby, why are you so cute? Come, let uncle give you a kiss.” Nuo quickly lunged forward and planted a kiss on the baby’s plump cheek before he even had time to react — the smack was loud.

The people nearby all exchanged awkward looks. Didn’t they just see the baby dislike you earlier? Li Feng and the others weren’t exactly showing you any warmth either, and yet here you were taking advantage of the baby again. What kind of uncle act is that — the classic whip and candy routine?

“Alright, enough playing around. Hurry up and get back to work. We still have things to do when we get back.” The journey was still quite far, better to return early so they wouldn’t encounter wild beasts or something along the way. Although the chance was small, it wasn’t zero.

“Okay, got it.” Nuo knew this was the time for serious business. He just wanted to tease the little nephew a bit to relax — doing work nonstop would be too boring.

“Oh, by the way, Li Feng, why are there so many eggs here? Don’t birds usually stop laying eggs at this time?” Nuo looked puzzled at the baskets of eggs the clan members had collected by the shore. He had wanted to ask earlier but had forgotten due to the interruption with the snake chasing the mandarin ducks. Now he remembered.

“Oh, these are mostly wild duck eggs, with some from other birds too, but fewer in number.” Li Feng shifted the baby to a different position — holding the baby in one pose for too long was tiring, and the baby was getting heavier. “People generally think birds stop laying eggs in autumn, but wild ducks are different. They have two peak laying periods: spring from March to May and autumn from October to November. In fact, wild ducks almost lay eggs year-round, though in winter and other times the laying rate is lower.” He had always thought birds flew to warmer places in autumn for winter, so egg-laying naturally wouldn’t happen during migration.

However, later when he interviewed a family that raised wild ducks, he learned wild ducks are not only tasty but also very useful. Their feathers are obviously warm, filled with duck down. Duck meat is fresh and lean, with a strong wild flavor, definitely without the fishy smell of farmed ducks.

The key was that wild ducks lay eggs more frequently than many other egg-laying birds. They don’t have a very obvious egg-laying season and can lay eggs almost all year. So as long as wild ducks were around, they could always find wild duck eggs — just a matter of quantity and safety.

Previously, people raised wild ducks for meat, down, and eggs. It was truly a wild delicacy. During his interview, the owner prepared a whole duck feast — duck meat, head, feet, neck, eggs — everything edible was cooked with various methods like braising, roasting, steaming, and even duck residue dishes. Since it was a promotional event, the owner didn’t hold back secrets, though of course Li Feng wasn’t told the full recipes. Still, he learned a lot of little tips.

But wild ducks are hard to catch — they can run, swim, and fly, nothing like tame ducks. No guns or arrows either, so catching them isn’t easy. For now, they could only satisfy their cravings with the eggs. Of course, if they could hatch the eggs successfully, that would be even better. Better than now, where they could only watch but not touch or eat.

Right now, Li Feng was especially craving that family’s various duck feasts, drooling almost as much as the baby. Li Feng wiped what looked like drool from his mouth, took a deep breath, and thought, no duck, then eat duck eggs. When they got home, he’d make a feast from eggs. Of course, they needed to save some eggs to try hatching — they needed motivation. If they could hatch them, raising ducks would be enough food for them. Then Li Feng would be the first to domesticate ducks — animal domestication would start with him.

“So does that mean we can come pick duck eggs anytime?” Nuo perked up and asked again nearby.

“Why are you everywhere?” Li Feng pushed Nuo’s head away. “If the wild ducks don’t fly away, I think so. We can even come check in winter.” Li Feng didn’t know what the winters were like here. If it was too cold, bird instinct would drive them to warmer places for winter, then they’d fly back next year.

They didn’t know how many birds and wild ducks lived in this reed marsh in front of them. Since they lived in groups, there would definitely be plenty of eggs. They could already find so many in the area near the shore, so there must be a lot here — but unfortunately, they couldn’t or dared not go inside. Once inside, they’d definitely get lost, even with a boat. It was just like a forest on land, but this forest was worse — in a forest, you could use plants to find your direction, but here it was all the same reeds, making people dizzy.

“Hey, I’m asking seriously here, don’t ignore me.” Nuo called out nearby. Though Li Feng had already answered, Nuo felt ignored, convinced Li Feng wasn’t answering because of his question but because he just happened to want to say something. He was really hurt.

Li Feng didn’t bother with him. He prepared to search the shore for duck eggs or other eggs. Wild ducks liked soft, grassy spots near the shore for laying eggs. They habitually looked in the reed marsh but had forgotten that. Li Feng just remembered now.

He called over Mo and a few other kids to look around nearby but told them not to go far since they’d leave soon. He gave each a reed stalk to part the grass carefully and slowly, warning them to be cautious because of poisonous snakes, insects, rats, and other dangers.

And sure enough, not long after, they heard the kids cheering. Looks like they’d found a place with eggs, though the nesting females inside probably got scared away by so many people.

Li Feng and the others rushed over. There were quite a few eggs among the reeds by the shore and on the embankment, between dead branches and bushes — nests had from a few to over a dozen eggs. The embankment was long, so there wouldn’t be a shortage of eggs. But the sky was darkening fast, and they couldn’t linger. After collecting most of the nearby eggs, they had to hurry back, especially since Lu Mao and the others had gathered quite a lot too.

Li Feng needed to hurry back and make the feather shoes from the reeds. Then he could teach others how to make them, so more people could gather reed down. They couldn’t miss the reed down season; that would be a big loss. It would be totally unwise to risk freezing or worse over a few duck eggs, since health was the foundation of revolution.

Besides, they still had various meats to sustain them, so no rush on the eggs — they’d always be there. But the reed down waited for no one. When it matured, the sky would be full of down floating in the wind.